Chameleon
by Thunderxtw
Summary: Changing colors for convenience.
1. Secrets

**Chapter 1: Secrets**

* * *

It had been an eventful day for the Mishima Zaibatsu. Or was it? Kazuya had seized the throne and disposed of any and everything relating to the old guard, including the former head himself.

Anna found herself in the midst of that change too. There were so many things happening at once it became difficult to process it all. She was young, upbeat, and fresh off the training field. Of course nobody expected Kazuya's new muscle to be easy on the eyes, let alone a female.

But Kazuya hadn't been the only Mishima she'd kept her eye on. Lee Chaolan, he'd introduced himself in passing one day, giving a kiss at her hand. He wasn't just another desk monkey sneaking peeks up her skirt or making idle chitchat for the sake of bragging. The suit only lended to his mystique.

After much teasing and swapping of phone numbers, Anna found herself genuinely curious with this silver-haired specimen. It was only the beginning, though. A series of firsts that would come to haunt her forever.

* * *

Rumors ran rapid about the Zaibatsu that, given all the commotion under Kazuya's new leadership, an assassination attempt was likely. That was the thing about politics; whoever was top dog and making waves on the scene always had someone gunning for his seat, literally.

It wasn't so much as the act itself but the matter of who'd be carrying it out that piqued her interest.

"So where'd Kazuya pick you up from?"

Bruce Irvin wasn't the chatty type. A man of few words and fewer facial expressions. He was private military, after all. Probably spent a lot of time away from home and seen enough crazy shit to justify the hardnosed demeanor. Although respected for his rank, he was even more feared for his brutal training regimes that left spirits crushed and made death a welcoming desire. So if he asked the question, he must've considered it important.

"My, you're nosy," Anna admonished playfully. "And Kazuya didn't 'pick me up' from anywhere. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Naw, just curious. And I wasn't trying to say you were. No need to get touchy."

He didn't know she'd come to settle an old score. She knew Nina was lurking in the shadows somewhere, waiting for Kazuya to drop his guard. But Anna too was biding her time, and whenever Nina chose to show her ugly face again, she'd be ready for her.

"It's just the way you asked. That's all."

Anna casually flipped through her book and tried to ignore him. Men...

"Well, I'll be sure to make a note of that for next time." He didn't smile but she could feel herself wanting to at his attempts to be funny. "I can tell Kazuya didn't hire you for your looks."

"And I can tell you're not just a brainless mercenary."

"We prefer the term 'contractor.' What else do you do?"

"Specialize."

"Oh, is that right? Well I can tell we're gonna have quite the friendship." He looked at her book. "What'cha readin' there?"

"Oh...not much. Just studying."

"College girl, huh?" Bruce gave her a contemplative stare. "You don't belong here."

Anna lifted her gaze from her book. "Excuse me?"

"Easy. I meant you shouldn't be in a place like this working for these kind of people. It's beneath you."

"So why do you, then?"

She didn't expect it to sound as harsh as it did, but the damage had been done. Bruce looked away and retreated. He didn't bother asking anymore questions.

It seemed she wasn't the only one with secrets.

* * *

So far, working security was as mundane as ever. Dressing down and escorting the CEO to points of interest wasn't the glamorous life depicted in television and Hollywood action films. She hadn't seen any real action in weeks and was starting to question her career choices.

Kazuya had sent her downstairs to fetch him coffee, of all things. Everything ran on coffee these days-the economy, briefings, and yes, even corrupt corporate bigwigs. It was a menial task, but she promised to be prompt and detailed with his request.

"Strong, black, and bitter," she muttered between the click-clack of her stiletto heels. After attracting a few looks and nearly fracturing the wrist of a frisky colleague trying to cop a feel, she'd found Lee leaning against the window, staring at the city.

"Admiring the view?"

He turned, half-smiled. "Hey."

"Hey, you." She stroked the small of his back. "What's wrong?"

"I just feel like I could be doing so much better than this."

Anna nodded and knew the feeling all too well. Despite working for a giant conglomerate, Lee wasn't happy with his position. He believed his only reason for staying employed after the coup was to be under his brother's thumb, to do chores that were both humiliating and degrading. Lee knew he was better than pushing papers and Anna did too. He talked about wanting to leave the company and start his own.

" _You probably think I'm crazy,"_ she remembered him saying the first time he brought it up over lunch. But Anna merely shook her head and listened as he went over the statistics and business plans of making it happen. She encouraged Lee to do it, if it made him happy. Somewhere out there, he saw his dreams among those skyscrapers and billboards. He could carve out his own slice of happiness without the weight of the Mishima name dragging him down.

Kazuya knew nothing about this plan and he would likely see to its end before it materialized. Telling one of his closest associates might not have been the wisest decision, but Lee seemed to trust her. It wasn't often she found herself in on another life that wasn't her own. Entrusting someone with sensitive information was a fool's gamble. It meant giving them access to a piece of your life, your heart, your soul. In the wrong hands, that kind of power was destructive. Anna could hurt Lee with this information. That much, she knew. On the other hand, she could hold on to it and tuck it away some place safe from Kazuya's reach. Nobody would have to know.


	2. In Security

**Chapter 2: In Security**

* * *

Everything was going well, or so she thought. Anna couldn't put her finger on it, but she was doubting herself a lot for some reason lately.

Did she look all right? Should she wear her hair this way or that? Maybe she needed to cut back on the carbohydrates…. Of course it had nothing to do with her budding relationship with Lee Chaolan. Her confidence was always her strong point, but she was starting to fret over every minor detail like a pubescent teenager. She was a grown woman now and she should know better than to let herself be influenced by someone else.

Then again, her love life had never been stellar.

After many failed attempts at dating, Anna never had a steady relationship. Men just wanted sex and nothing more. It didn't matter how strong, dominant, or masculine they made themselves out to be. Show even the slightest hint of commitment and they ran. It was amusing and depressing all the same.

Lee was the only one who never cowered or shrunk away and it was that reason Anna found herself doing so at him. She hesitated at the thought of a man liking her, when the one she once revered decided she wasn't fit to be his daughter. Those days of having inadequacy screamed and beaten into her psych still haunted her. Lee could compliment her in a million ways and it still wouldn't undo years worth of damage.

If only things had been simpler, and, dare she say, normal, then maybe she would've had a better chance. Unfortunately, in real-life, there were no do-overs. She'd been exposed to atrocities a child wasn't meant to see or know for the betterment of her development as an instrument; an instrument trained to think and not feel, act and not reflect. These skills afforded her advantages when it came to dealing with the dangers of society, but they also served as a permanent reminder of how flawed and jagged a person's humanity could turn with just the single twist of a knife.

Sure, that was always what _they_ wanted.

Nobody knew this but she wanted all the same things people desired: love. It was that one thing she truly never had, the one thing that always managed to slip through her fingers the moment she touched it. An estranged relationship with both father and sister led her down a path of bitter ends and weary effort. People spoke of love as if it was something magical, because it was. To know that a feeling could create so much difference in someone's life was out of this world. But in order for that to happen, she'd have to be vulnerable and let her guard down. She'd have to unveil the pain behind her eyes and the flaws in her smiles. Lee was impressed with the surface—that brazen sexuality definitely kept his interest—but what lay beneath could potentially drive him away.

She wondered if there would ever come a day where she could stop looking over her shoulder and just trust. Anna never had a problem handling herself, but when her safety lay in the hands of someone else, that was a tough shell to crack. Blessings of independence aside, a woman's innate desire was to feel protected by her man both inside and out. For Anna, a loaded pistol did just fine and had proven more successful. But there were times in which she felt a gun wouldn't be enough. With loneliness, nothing was ever enough. A gun was just a façade coated in bluing, a make-believe means to convince her she had everything under control.

Ironically, in her line of work, the only safety and security that should matter was her benefactor's. Love had no place in the field and would only serve as a distraction. It wasn't rational or practical and that was far more important than anything else.

But was love also not dangerous? Wasn't putting your heart on the line not a battle in itself? Therein lay the beauty of it all: the chase. It was about the thrill of wanting and being wanted in return.

Love was as seducing as it was unfavorable. Yet, Anna couldn't help herself in thinking of a life existing beyond the scope of a Sako TRG sniper rifle. Maybe bloodshed didn't have to be her calling, after all.

But a new day had dawned when Lee finally broke away from the Zaibatsu to found his own robotics company. Anna had been overjoyed when he'd told her the news.

Through all his struggle and sacrifice, he'd made it to the top. Gone were the days of mopping floors and filing Kazuya's paperwork. He could do anything he wanted now and that only made him even more attractive in her eyes. But he wasn't the only one taking off. Opportunity sprung when Anna went to G Corporation, a company he'd partnered with, after graduating from university. They were miles apart, following different career paths but remained in touch. Every couple of months, Lee would take a vacation and he'd ask Anna if she wanted to go. He'd show her pictures of the luxurious hotels and beaches he visited. They would talk about it daily, but Anna had her own priorities to handle first before she could start running off on trips with a sexy someone. Not that she didn't want to go. She longed for the days of tan lines and endless fun in the sun. But there was still postgraduate education and planning for the future—whatever that was.

Still, she was looking forward to whatever came her way.


	3. Ghost

**Chapter 3: Ghost**

* * *

It was summer and although she could be somewhere lazing on a sun lounger sipping blackberry mojitos until day bled into night, Anna was on assignment gathering Intel. With boardroom struggles involving the Zaibatsu and G Corperation's top leaders being brutally ousted from their seats, Anna was again working under the influence of Kazuya. That meant lengthy stakeouts, coercing illicit deals, and recording secret meetings in the dark. Just another day in the field.

Based at a safe house, Irvin had the tech set up for their operation and was testing the software with tacit understanding.

Anna resumed staring ahead and down, at nothing, arms folded, tapping a pistol against her elbow. "You got any hobbies, Irvin?"

He didn't look away from his laptop. "Sometimes I like to take my gun apart and see how fast I can put it back together."

Anna half-expected him to quip, "I'm just joking" and open up about his interests. But Irvin remained eerily solemn, as he often did when posed with a question. She should know better than to expect otherwise.

"I mean, you go out on the tear sometimes, yeah? Drinkin' with yer mates? Or do you fancy a ride after a deadly game of handball?"

That earned her at least a glance. "What's up with your voice?"

"Jus' takin' the piss outta ya, lad. It's called a 'brogue.' Haven't used it in a while. Can't be talkin' like a feckin' leprechaun all the time, y' know? Gets people's knickers in a twist when they can't understand a bleedin' word y' sayin'."

"Heh. Figured you weren't from the States."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've seen a lot to know."

"And how much have you seen?"

His eyes clouded over with something somberly reflective and a pang of familiarity hit her; the smell of blood, the sight of a carcass, and the sound of a gunshot that started it all.

"Enough."

In some ways, she envied his detachment. It was that objectivity which made Irvin seem so rational and decisive. But it was also what made him so dangerous, how he could snap from calm to threatening in a single move when duty called for it. Men liked to think distance kept them grounded, but did it really? Or did it further isolate and disembody them from reality?

"You got family back at home?"

Irvin paused in his tinkering a moment too long, then returned to his work as if she'd never spoken. Some books weren't meant to be opened, no matter how tempting the cover was.

It was also distance which reminded her of what was missing in her life. Anna was saddened to find her phone dry of any messages or missed calls from Lee.

She knew he was busier than usual, being a corporate big shot now, but it wouldn't have hurt to shoot her a text every now and then. How long had it been? Two weeks? Three weeks? A month? Too long.

Anna began to wonder if something happened to him. All attempts at contact led only to his assistant or a voice mail. She found it suspicious how a high-tech robotics tycoon could just disappear in a world too small not to acknowledge his absence. When she wanted to do the same, it was easy. But Lee was clearly no professional, and if Anna wanted to find him she would.

Maybe he was missing—or worse…. She couldn't think like that. Lee was alive. He had to be, damn it. She'd swept every trail of his property: computers, residences, even his favorite haunts. Nothing came back. Lee was a ghost until the search pulled up a hidden police report with photos and a suspect, telling her everything she wanted to know. But it wasn't the kind she was expecting, for Lee was the suspect. He'd been arrested on suspicion of arms dealing and illegal firearm purchases. Anna's heart sank to the pit of her stomach. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. But she recognized those eyes that once captivated her with their stare and that silver hair he once fought to keep tamed and shiny.

If convicted, he could face several years in prison. She'd never see him again and that scared her. Whether he committed the crime or not didn't matter. As far as she was concerned, he was innocent until proven guilty. Besides, Lee had always been a nonviolent man trying to distance himself from the brutality of his adoptive lineage. There had to be some mistake.

She needed to establish contact and let it be known she supported him. There wasn't much she could do on the outside, but it was better than doing nothing. Lee needed her more than ever and she wasn't about to let him down.

The jail policies for writing inmates were strict. So she wrote to Lee on a flimsy index card small enough for only a few florid sentences summing up how his absence had affected her. It was too soon to reveal anything deeper other than concern, so she kept it simple and left the "L" word out.

She'd asked that he write back and update her on his wellbeing. But that was weeks ago and she hadn't heard anything since.

Her birthday was approaching and while Anna never did anything spectacular on such an event besides grieve yet another passage in time, the only thing she wanted was to see Lee again, to be able to hold him once more and confess what she'd felt all along but had been too scared to say. Somehow, after many reveries of days past and reviving old rituals for luck, her wish ended up coming true and Lee's release was granted. Did he receive her letter? She wanted so badly to know.

Anna reached out and this time Lee answered. They agreed to meet later in the week and did. Anna sat curled against a leathery sofa as music blared on through the lounge, manicured fingernails clinking the rim of a wine glass. She was about to ask the bartender for another round and in _he_ walked, all leather and suede. His gaze darted her way just in time to catch hers. Her breath hitched in her throat. It was as if she'd seen a ghost, a charming, stupid yet roguishly handsome ghost. He smelled and tasted just the same: beautiful.

His case had been expunged. Thankfully, he had a good attorney and PR team who were able to keep the story from leaking to the press.

He did receive her letter and seemed touched by the gesture, if not a little embarrassed she knew of his whereabouts. But just like anything confidential, she could keep a secret; he was every bit entitled to his as she was hers.

Lee ordered his drink and smiled at her. "Can I get something for the birthday girl?"

"My birthday was yesterday."

"So?" He flashed another infectious grin.

"Okay, okay. I'll take a pint."

"Excellent. Ever been to Vegas?"

"No, never," she said, stroking the base of her glass slowly between thumb and forefinger. "But I've always wanted to."

"I have. It's lovely over there. We'll go one day. You and me."

"Mm, sounds great."

Lee told her everything about his stay at that correctional hellhole: the terrible conditions, the undercooked meals, and the strange yet amusing camaraderie he'd developed with his fellow inmates. Despite the grim nature of incarceration, he made light of the experience with jokes and theatrics. But he didn't know how it had been for her, seeing that sullen image of his face, the empty look in his eyes, and the realization she couldn't help him.

"I was really worried about you," Anna said after a long pause. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Really?"

"Yes. I was thinking about you the whole time. I-I missed you."

Anna didn't expect to say that aloud, but Lee heard everything. It wasn't a cover, just a sincere attempt at sharing Intel only he could unencrypt. He looked at her, unflinching. She wondered if she should've kept her mouth shut. It was a foolish thing to say, she knew, and his silence left her feeling more naked than she ever had without clothes on. However, it couldn't be helped. But Lee embraced her along with the sentiment.

"I missed you too," he finally said

"It's so good to have you back," she murmured

* * *

 **Glossary**

On the tear: Go out drinking

Ride: 1. An attractive person. 2. To have intercourse with someone.

Taking the piss: To mess with someone playfully.

Deadly: Another word for cool or fun.

Feck: A mild variation of the "F" word.


	4. Defeat

**Chapter 4: Defeat**

They'd made plans to see each other Saturday night. Anna had a dress picked out for the occasion and refused to be outshone by a man in a monkey suit, regardless of how good he looked wearing it. She'd combed through her wardrobe just to find the right combination, one that would leave no doubt in his mind he was in for the time of his life. For some reason, violet struck her as a suitable choice.

Hm, red and violet. Two adjacent colors perfect in tandem or seperation. On a fashion scale, they were bold, elegant, and sensual compared to their uninspiring peers. She marveled at the irony and wondered what Lee thought of this. But together they also clash when not in the same intensity or value. How fasionating. How disturbingly profound.

But these details hardly seemed to matter when Lee called and broke the news he would be working late. Anna understood and tried not to sound too disappointed. The delay would only give her more time to prepare for their eventual meet up. Lee had a flight to catch for a business trip so she wouldn't see him until the following week. Away on her own business, Anna would find her heart beating at an unusual rate whenever Lee entered her thoughts. She questioned these emotions and what they meant. Somewhere along the way, a balance had shifted. Her world was starting to feel less lonely, less divided.

She'd been denying it all this time, but there was no further need for careful analysis or serious evaluation.

Anna had known Lee's secret, and now, in light of this realization, maybe it was time he learned hers. It was a scary thought, but she'd never been so sure of anything in her life. He deserved to know. She planned to tell Lee how she felt the next time she saw him. Upon his return from the trip, he'd invited her to a masquerade ball being thrown at his mansion. Anna decided that would be her window. Costumes, masks, and dancing sounded like fun, only she never made it to that dance.

Days prior, she stumbled across some pictures he uploaded to social media. Anna didn't understand how people could share such intimate details about themselves in front of millions of strangers so carelessly. But keeping a low profile didn't seem to matter to one-percenters ruling the globe.

It was the perfect date; the same guy, the same pub, but with a different girl. Anna zoomed in on the offender and found herself staring into the cold, treacherous eyes of her sister. Anna felt she'd been stabbed in both back and heart. As crushing as it was, she couldn't stop looking at the two of them, side by side, nestled cozy against each other while sickly compliments and congratulations poured in like a flood. The caption infuriated her most: _Me and baby watching the game_.

 _Baby...  
_  
He called Anna that once. Everyone was a "baby" these days. It was a trite and overused term that hardly held any meaning other than to flatter and seduce. She found it unsurprising that Nina didn't smile or seem to be aware she was being photographed. But that wasn't the issue.

Anna suddenly caught chills and felt ill. How could he do this to her? Why Nina? Why him? Why? Why? Why? All these questions stirred in Anna's head like a violent cocktail and left her desperate to know the truth. Something was up. It couldn't be legit, not when everything was starting to fall into place.

Her objective was clear. She'd seek Lee out and have him explain this to her, because clarity was important. Without clarity, there was no purpose and without purpose, there was nothing. He owed her that much.

* * *

They arranged to meet at his job later in the evening. She caught Lee in the parking lot just as he was leaving. He startled when she appeared without making a sound. Anna pardoned herself, forgetful of old field habits. It was windy outside, terribly so, ruffling Anna's overcoat and forcing Lee to suggest relocating someplace warmer.

They retreated to her car, free from the October chill, and were holding hands. Anna's every emotion she'd been trying to hide up until now came pouring out in a heart-wrenching, heartbreaking confession. Lee just stared and listened quietly as she opened up about her attraction to him. She replayed conversations he'd forgotten, gestures he'd overlooked, and the little things he did that didn't seem like much but still mattered in every way. It was one big field report she'd documented and filed away into the deep recesses of her mind. And here, under the scrutiny of no other party, she was giving Lee clearance to it all.

After a while, his silence started to bother her and she decided it was his turn to speak. Lee seemed to take his time with answering, but the moment he found his voice, she realized he was crying too.

"I never knew you felt that way about me," Lee said, tearing up. "You never said anything."

It was then Anna realized she'd screwed up. If only she hadn't hesitated and made her feelings clearer maybe things would've played out a lot differently. But she had also been afraid. What if she wasn't good enough for him? What if he got bored and ditched her for another woman like all the other men did? Those thoughts might've sounded crazy and over-analytical, but Anna was a realist and that was the likelihood of every new prospect.

Sure, they were never officially together, but Anna liked to think Lee was hers or at least on the verge of becoming hers. But the more she heard Lee speak, the more apparent it became she was wrong.

"I still wanna be with you," Anna whimpered. "I still wanna go on trips with you. C'mon, I'm ready. We can still go."

Lee shook his head.

"I just want us to be friends."

Those seven words had doomed her. Just like that, it was over. She'd lost.

Against her pleas, he repeated it like a mantra, the echoes piercing her through and through.

"I just felt like I was throwing myself at you. So I just gave up and stopped trying."

That hurt more than it should've. With all the faith she had in him, Lee had deemed Anna a lost cause and abandoned her like so many others. She'd depended on him to understand and yet he didn't seem to get her as much as she thought.

"Do you like her?" Anna ventured.

Lee paused in a manner which made her shiver. "I do."

"Is she treating you right?"

"So far."

None of these answers boded well for her. Why couldn't Nina mistreat him like some crazy abusive girlfriend? Anna began to hate her sister more, wishing she'd never existed. She imagined herself sneaking a couple pills of cyanide into Nina's drink and watching her keel over with foam spouting out of her filthy mouth.

Somehow, Nina was giving Lee what he felt Anna couldn't. But who the hell was he to think such a thing? How could he see beauty in such a beast? Unlike the creature of that tragic fairytale, this one's humanity couldn't be restored. Nina had to have an endgame somewhere. She wasn't wired for intimacy or pleasure, only objectives and directives. Anna wondered if this was some form of cerebral warfare employed to make her jealous. She finally had something she could call her own and just before she could bask in her achievement, Nina had taken it from her, as she had so much else.

"So what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"About...you know...us?"

"I just want _us_ to be friends."

Lee said that as if she'd asked the most ridiculous question in the world. It definitely was over. He'd made up his mind.

Anna was wise enough to know friendship never worked in these situations. It was better to walk away from pain than to endure it for someone else's satisfaction.

"I can't just be friends with you, Lee. If I can't be with you, I can't be near you. It'll defeat me."

"But I don't want you to go, Anna. If you leave, I'll be defeated."

However, Lee's insistence started to weaken her resolve. He was pleading with her and even though Anna didn't want to cut Lee out of her life, she struggled to think what hers would be like without him. Could she go out with him and resist temptation to touch his skin? Withhold the urge to take off his clothes and explore every inch of his body? Would she handle only loving him on a platonic level and nothing more? One thing was certain: he wouldn't be taking her out or on any trips as once promised. Those were all Nina's privileges now.

"Something could change. You don't know what'll happen."

That was true. Anna didn't. But she'd rather Lee spare her the grief than get her hopes up. Even as he spoke with regret and sympathy, he sounded so happy in his new relationship. How could she ever compare with the woman who was always ahead of her, even in birth? She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs that this wasn't fair, that he come back to his senses and tell her he didn't mean a word of what he was saying. God damn it, this wasn't how it was supposed to go down!

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well, you take time and you think about it."

With nothing more to say, Lee stepped out the car and into his awaiting limousine. Anna sat leaning against the steering wheel as her only support, cold and alone in complete darkness as he shrank further and further away from view. She looked at the open road and braced herself for a long drive ahead.


	5. Infiltrate

**Chapter 5: Infiltrate**

The rain woke her up. Outside her flat, a storm rumbled its presence and so did an intense dread in her stomach. It was today again, another monotonous cycle of existence.

Anna groaned and forced a pillow over her face but still heard everything: the pitter-patter of water on the roof, the rattle of wind against the window, and the pitiful echo of short-lived experiences.

Like a corpse, she lay in bed, defeated and contorted. Still clasped under her arm were the books she'd fallen asleep trying to read. But she couldn't bring herself to care about a bunch of meaningless words printed on feeble pieces of paper. She wanted to forget how much vodka she drank or how long had it been since she'd last seen the sun or the fact she was still single.

Usually, at this hour, it was calisthenics and a light run around the block. Anything to get the adrenline pumping. Anything to feel alive. So far, her body wasn't complying with the commands her brain was sending to it. Anna seemed to be losing hold of her senses.

Things that caught her eye in seconds took longer to register. Then it hit her; maybe she was getting old-a terrifying thought for sure. Not even thirty yet and already feeling time's leathery hands curling around her neck. In espionage, only the few and fortunate lived to see their dotage, that was if ptsd and other combat-related illnesses didn't get them first. You could always leave the field, but the field could never leave you. The memories were too fresh and vivid to forget, captured in gory sequential snapshots, like a crime scene.

Kazuya had called a briefing. Yes, it was coming back to her now. He said it was mandatory- it was always mandatory. So naturally, she should suit up and be as prompt and punctual as lightning occupying the horizon. Even though she knew perfection was a myth, she felt some semblance of pride in having herself together. But during the meeting, Kazuya's words blurred into a stream of distorted nonsense. He was definitely talking, however, she wasn't listening. She found herself interested in what Lee was up to these days and if he still thought of her sometimes. Anna knew she should keep her thoughts rooted to significant, more tangible matters. Professional over personal.

But Lee's influence had been persistent. She began to see signs of him everywhere ghosting across her vision. Sometimes she swore she smelled his cologne, the imported kind with the overly fancy, hard-to-pronounce names. He'd appear only to disappear and leave her with more questions than answers. Sure enough, he'd even claimed a column in the newspaper she'd picked up. Lee seemed to be doing well on his end, shaking hands with various new business partners and visiting schools to promote higher learning. The press couldn't get enough coverage of his humanitarian activities. There was no mistaking Lee Chaolan was a man in high demand. It must've been nice to be wanted, to be in public and accepted for what you do rather than where you came from.

She wanted to hear his voice again but Lee had gone radio silent for some time. Communication wasn't forbidden. It was just no longer a priority for him to speak to her. He was a taken man, which meant there were more boundaries to follow and less effort being put forth. Lee had suggested they meet up sometime but on platonic terms. Anna, who was once strongly against this, decided to cave in if it enabled her to see him. To her dismay, Lee would later decline his own proposition. While he insisted they remain friends, he didn't think them seeing each other was a good idea and that it wasn't fair to either her or his "significant other." Ugh, how that tore her apart just to hear him refer to Nina by a title that should've been hers. Lee used to call her "gorgeous." It was a common term, but it was from Lee and that made it important. Now, he'd demoted her to just "Anna," plain, ordinary, just-a-friend Anna.

One thing was certain: Nina needed to die. The universe called for balance and casting her sister's despicable carcass into the fire seemed a fitting sacrifice. An eye for an eye, tit for tat. She couldn't allow this to continue for too long. Anna plotted and fantasized about murdering her sister. There were so many different ways it could be done. It all boiled down to which one provoked the most suffering.

How satisfying it would be if that bitch croaked from the pressure of her fingers, to feel just as empty and soulless as she did. But she had to put her vengeful ideas aside and realize that wouldn't bring Lee back. He'd chosen Nina, and as long as that fact remained, Anna couldn't have him.

But he didn't know she'd been suffering for months without him. He didn't know about the deep-seated self-loathing or the long nights spent in bed wishing he was cuddled up next to her. All those urges to disclose how badly she needed him had to be suppressed. So she buried herself in her work, running off caffeinated espressos and lack of sleep. She avoided small talk and spoke only when needed. Anna had become so mechanical and impersonal it was starting to scare not just her colleagues but even herself with how cold she could be.

After a while, she decided to counter noise with noise. What better way to let out some aggression than firing off a few rounds into some hapless target. The boom-clack sound of the rifle was music to her ears. It kicked in her hands and suddenly there was that feeling of power taking over. She was in control again, if only for one glorious moment.

The loud, incessant chambering sounds would continue.

 _Click-clack, click-clack!_

 _Yes…._

 _Click-clack, click-clack!_

 _Again…._

 _Click-clack, click-clack!_

 _You like that, Nina?_

But the outcome wasn't what she'd desired. She'd been so caught up in her state of affairs, she hadn't realized Irvin's presence on the sidelines. Fortunately, he wasn't a hostile, otherwise she would've been fodder if this were a combat mission.

 _You're getting sloppy, Williams. Pull it together._

Irvin watched and observed with stoic scrutiny. Ignoring him, she shot again. He didn't seem too pleased with what he saw. Anna went to reload, groping for another cartridge, and this time Irvin lowered her gun. The flaw in her fire was clear. He asked Anna twice what was wrong when he noticed she'd emptied all her bullets into every obstacle but the intended bullseye. Her hands had been shaking and what made it even more embarrassing was he had the nerve to point it out to her. The excuse was just a minor headache that would eventually go away with an aspirin or two. But she knew that was a lie. Lee wasn't going to go away and he was more than just an ache in her head. He'd infiltrated and compromised her. She'd never be the same again.

It became so unbearable she retreated to the rest room and started fumbling for the faucet. The water was cold on her face but did nothing to soothe her. She looked at herself in the mirror. A hollow, wretched, grotesque reflection stared back. If pathetic had a visual, this was it. Two blinks later and she saw her sister's face in that reflection as well, mocking her efforts.

Anna snarled and punched the glass, slicing her hand and distorting her image into several different directions. Her cut wasn't the only thing bleeding she had to worry about.

An external wound could be cleaned, stiched up and bandaged until proper healing occured, but what about internal? This wasn't a typical gunshot or stab wound that could be treated after weeks and months of rehab.

Anna fled the scene and vowed she'd have her happy ending, that it didn't have to end this way.


End file.
